HANDEL’S Messiah will get interactive when members of the public sing along in a special Christmas performance at the Perth Concert Hall. In a quirky twist, Joe Public can pay extra to be in the Christmas choir, which will get to sing four of the 17 choruses. No audition is required, but the dress code…

THE owners of Benelli Shoes may hail from China, but that can’t be said about the footwear. Five staff design, stitch and fashion about 600 shoes every year at the company’s Osborne Park factory. It’s the only WA shoe company to manufacture shoes locally. The Voice went on site this week as Shop Small Month…

CLAIMS of “havoc” during a count of votes have prompted former Bayswater councillor Michael Sabatino to take the embattled WA electoral commission to the court of disputed returns. The council veteran lost his central ward seat in October to Sally Palmer, with Cr Chris Cornish re-elected to the ward’s other seat. “Central ward was different…

COMPLAINING about Sharia law might give Reclaim Australia the shits, but they’d better hope that’s not literally. The right-wing movement’s supporters flooded the City of Perth Facebook page with one-star reviews this week after being denied permission to set up portable toilets and food stalls at the rally at Solidarity Park, on Sunday November 22.…

A FACEBOOK page purporting to represent white UWA students has popped up, likely as part of a worldwide troll movement to establish pages with little connection to real students. The UWA White Student Union, with a modest 52 likes at the time of writing, states “finally an organisation on the UWA campus exists in order…

MORE than a dozen mature trees will be axed in one swoop in Noranda because Bayswater council has failed to maintain them over the years, green thumbs claim. The council this week decided to chop down 13 trees—half the stock at the small reserve on Noranda Place—because of two potentially fatal incidents involving falling trees…

A VETERAN scrutineer says the WA electoral commission did not run the vote well in the City of Canning, echoing concerns laid against the organisation by former Bayswater councillor Michael Sabatino (see page 1). The Voice spoke with Dean Blanchard, a scrutineer for Joe Delle Donne, the mayor who was booted off council by more…

THERE’S a certain frankness about Wiwince Pigome when she talks of her tortured father, his subsequent premature death, and her murdered grandfather and uncle. There was no quiver in her voice when she spoke about the trauma at a silent vigil  in Perth CBD this week to protest Indonesia’s occupation of her former homeland, West…

VINCENT mayor John Carey wants to abolish alfresco licensing fees, saying it makes no sense to put businesses through the rigamarole and expense of applying for permits given they’re helping liven up the place. It costs $73 to apply for a yearly permit and $88 per sqm used, but Mr Carey says “what we find…

MORE than 200 residents attended a public meeting organised by WA Labor to discuss rail options in the Bayswater/Maylands area as part of its MetroNet transport plan. Maylands MP Lisa Baker says feedback confirms the Caledonian Avenue crossing at the railway is a bone of contention for many motorists. She promises a Labor government will…